Students displaced from King Kamehameha III Elementary School, which was ravaged by the Lahaina wildfire in August, will now have to wait until April to occupy a new temporary campus being built for them in Pulelehua, according to the latest timeline from state school officials.
In addition, many of the families and teachers of Lahaina’s Hawaiian-language immersion students say they are growing impatient in asking for classroom space for in-person learning together instead of leaving dozens online, and asking for state Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi to meet with them as the state Board of Education had directed him last month.
Meanwhile, as the second phase of debris removal in Lahaina town that began this month is raising residents’ worries about air safety, state school officials say they have increased air- quality monitoring at and near the schools.
The opening of the temporary campus being built in Pulelehua in West Maui, near the Kapalua Airport, has been pushed further back — and closer to the May 30 end of the state Department of Education school year — than at least some observers initially believed it would be.
Students and employees of King Kamehameha III have been working since mid- October in “high-quality tent structures” and borrowed classrooms on the campus of Princess Nahienaena Elementary School above Lahaina. Only roughly half of King Kamehameha III’s original student enrollment of 624 before the fires are attending classes on the Nahienaena campus, DOE data indicate.
Some other media reports last year had suggested that students and teachers might be in the Pulelehua site this month or next. But during an education board meeting Thursday, Hayashi relayed an updated timeline:
>> In late February, the site is expected to be handed over to the Hawaii DOE. The Army Corps of Engineers is designing and overseeing the installation; Aina Pono, a Native Hawaiian organization based in Waianae on Oahu, was awarded a $53.7 million contract by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for construction. “Classroom furniture has already been ordered and will be installed as it arrives,” Hayashi said.
>> In March, faculty and staff are scheduled to pack up and prepare for the move. Spring break — March 18-22 for Hawaii’s public school system — will be extended by a week for King Kamehameha III so employees can complete their move to the Pulelehua campus during the last week of March.
>> Starting in the April 1 week, students and employees will be at the Pulelehua campus, where they are expected to finish the school year with quarter four.
But complicating the DOE’s planning for quarter four and next school year has been some difficulty in discerning how many families plan to send their students to the Pulelehua campus, which is about 6 miles away from their original school in Lahaina town.
In an ongoing survey, “We asked parents to tell us about their enrollment plans. We translated the letter into languages spoken by families. So far we have 20% response rate from students from both schools, students who are currently enrolled and those who are no longer enrolled but are on island,” Hayashi said. “Of more than 300 students who are not currently enrolled, some are returning when the temporary site opens in April, and just over half are planning to return in the fall.”
The survey for King Kamehameha III families can be found at 808ne.ws/3OiPdzP.
Hawaiian-immersion site requests
Hayashi said the DOE’s planning also includes “an assessment of our Kaiapuni o Lahaina’s request for space at the temporary school,” referring to Lahaina’s Hawaiian-immersion students and employees. Parents report that roughly 60 immersion students of all grades are learning online, about 30 are at the Princess Nahienaeha campus, and others are at Lahaina Intermediate and Lahainaluna High schools.
But several parents and teachers who testified at the BOE meeting said they are growing weary of repeatedly asking for a site where immersion students can receive in-person learning together. Currently those who are learning online are authorized to take one in-person field trip together per week. Several testifiers asked for at least two field trips together per week, but ultimately want stable classroom accommodations.
They also complained that even though BOE Chair Warren Haruki last month told Hayashi to meet with the Hawaiian-immersion community of Lahaina, that has not happened.
“Please come speak to us. Tell us straight what’s going to happen with our keiki — we shouldn’t have to hear it through the grapevine, through coconut wireless … ” testified Mikey Burke, a mother of four children in Kaiapuni programs, directing her comments to Hayashi and state Deputy Superintendent Tammi Chun. “Give us direction — don’t wait for the board to force you.”
Hayashi confirmed in his remarks to the board that he had not met with the Hawaiian-immersion teachers in person since the board’s urging in December. He said he did visit several times immediately after the fires, the DOE’s Office of Hawaiian Education has worked closely with the Maui teachers, and he will visit the Kaiapuni teachers before the next board meeting on Feb. 22.
Health concerns
Hayashi also told the board in his superintendent’s report that “health and safety remain top of mind in West Maui” in response to community concerns about the second phase of debris removal in Lahaina’s burn zone, just below the town’s three remaining operating public schools.
The DOE’s Environmental Services Unit is working with the state Department of Health and FEMA on response and monitoring efforts, Hayashi said. “Every two weeks an environmental consulting firm (Ford & Associates) tests for harmful matter or … particle settling on surfaces, floors, window sills and outside walkways of our Lahaina schools.
“So far, no actionable levels of lead or arsenic have been detected.”
Hayashi added that air-quality monitoring at and near the three schools also has been increased.
The Environmental Services Unit has developed an “internal automated alert system” for notifications if the two air quality monitoring stations managed by the state Health Department just below the Lahaina Bypass or any of the Purple Air sensors at the Lahaina schools register 15 micrograms of pollutant per cubic meter of air for 6 minutes, 30 minutes and 60 minutes, DOE Communications Director Nanea Kalani added by email.
A second set of alerts is set for 35 micrograms of pollutant per cubic meter of air.
“The internal alert system monitors the schools on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., until 8:30 p.m. at Lahainaluna (High School)’s gym, and 24/7 for the Lahainaluna dormitories. In addition to this new alert system, the Environmental Services Unit monitors the Purple Air site regularly,” Kalani said.
The DOE in its “Health & Safety Guidance for Reopening Lahaina Schools” plan outlines steps the schools will take if air quality deteriorates, ranging from turning on indoor air filters, closing doors and windows, and reducing outdoor activities at the “yellow level” (EPA air quality index of 51 to 100) to sheltering in place or closing school at the “purple level” or “maroon level” (EPA air quality indices of 201 and above).
The plan can be viewed at 808ne.ws/47LGE7G.
